Time Shift ,,OLD STORY,,
by xLaramiex
Summary: This story is not terribly well written, but I love the plot so it has just about kept its place here.##The Doctor takes Martha to see an old friend of his, Captain Jack Harkness, but gets more than he bargained for.
1. The Meeting

_I've finally succumbed to the voice in my head. You'll get what I mean in a few chapters :P_

_This doesn't really fit anywhere any more; it must be fairly early in the run, but The Doctor has already gone back to Cardiff on his own and knows about Jack - his "can't die" thing and that he's in Torchwood - but the whole point of the story means that most of series three and all of series four would not have existed. Oh, and apparently (talk to the voices in my head) The Doctor has only met Jack and none of the others. And he's not seen the Hub. But you see, this story's been in my head for such a long time, and I couldn't bear to let it die!_

_Also, if they're all hopelessly OOC I'm sorry, but I can't cope with so many characters! Lol._

_Oh, and it's gets better. Honestly._

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE MEETING**

Martha followed The Doctor eagerly out of The TARDIS, to be greeted by the sight of a large bronze building.

"Captain Jack lives here?" Martha questioned doubtfully.

"Yep. Well, sort of. C'mon. This way." The Doctor led her around the side of the building and down the street until they reached a small tourist information centre. He pushed the door open and entered. Martha saw a small room, with a counter on the wall facing them and a man in a smart suit standing behind it. Her eyes skipped over him - she knew it wasn't Jack from pictures The Doctor had shown her - and took note of the many information leaflets on the counter. The Doctor was grinning expectantly at the man, as though he expected him to recognise him. The cheery smile faltered as the man narrowed his eyes at him. The Doctor raised his eyebrows hopefully. The man's eyes suddenly widened and he stood up straighter.

"Doctor?" he said. The grin had returned to The Doctor's face.

"That's me!" he announced. "Jack in?"

"Of course," the man replied. "I'm Ianto, by the way. Come right in." Martha stared as a hidden door to their right swung open. She poked The Doctor in the ribs.

"Ow!" he cried, following Ianto through the door . "Oh, right. This is Martha. Martha Jones."

"Hello," she said, smiling warmly at Ianto.

-

The Doctor had brought Martha here to see an old friend of his, Captain Jack, after they had landed in London. They had come out in the Powell Estate, and The Doctor had got a sad look in his eyes and showed her a picture of Rose at her tentative request. She hadn't looked like anything special to Martha. Then what loosely resembled a tiny yellow cat had appeared in front of them; though Martha hadn't been particularly surprised when The Doctor had told her it was an alien. He had fixed its ship for it, it had left, and then The Doctor had announced that he wanted to see his friend. Apparently, his steering had been accurate for once, because here they were.

-

Ianto led them through a series of dark, slightly damp corridors, until finally they reached a lift, and then at the bottom of the lift there was, Ianto said, the last door. As it opened - rolling away sideways - an enormous space was revealed.

"This is…under Cardiff?" Martha said, as she took in that it was several floors high, the water tower continued right to the bottom, and that there was a large…_something_ flying around.

"Yes," Ianto said, sounding proud. Martha saw the contrast of modern technology and old brickwork, the one man and one dark-haired woman sat at computers. Another woman was walking up some stairs with a mug in each hand.

"Visitors, Ianto?" she called down.

"For Jack," he replied, leading The Doctor and Martha to the foot of the stairs that the woman was nearly at the top of.

"Is that a pterodactyl?" The Doctor asked interestedly as they climbed.

"It is," Ianto confirmed, pushing open the door to reveal a man Martha knew was Jack, leaning back on his chair with his feet on the table, taking a sip out of his mug. He almost spat it out as they walked in, and Martha noticed, as he choked "Doctor" that he spoke with an American accent. He quickly stood up and came over to them. He pulled The Doctor into a hug and said, "Hello!"

"Good to see you," The Doctor said cheerfully. "You're not dead yet?" This seemed to be a great joke, because Jack laughed loudly. Martha smiled awkwardly and held out her hand.

"I'm Martha Jones," she said. Jack took her hand and shook it firmly, fixing her with his warm brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones, I'm Cap'n Jack Harkness," he replied with a smile.

"Stop it!" The Doctor told him warningly.

Jack turned to him. "You don't let me say hello to anyone!" He seemed to suddenly notice that it was not just the three of them in the room. "Doctor, Martha, this is Gwen Cooper," he said, gesturing to the woman they'd seen with the mugs walking up the stairs. She smiled at them and Martha gave her a small wave. "Gwen, why don't you show Martha around?" Jack suggested. "Ianto, that shop'll be missing you," he added to Ianto, still stood by the door.

Gwen took Martha down the stairs again and took her over to the man she had seen at the computer.

"This is Owen Harper," Gwen said, and the man span around on his chair to face her. "He's our doctor."

"I'm a great doctor, thank you very much," Owen replied dryly.

"I'm a doctor as well," Martha told him. "Well, nearly. So, what do you people…do?" She looked at his computer screen.

"You play games?"

"Well, no, not most of the time," Owen said, minimising the screen. "Most of the time we actually…do stuff. Weevils, mainly; they're the big problem."

"I'll take you to see one in a minute," Gwen promised, and steered her over to see the dark-haired woman. She was obvious doing something useful, alternating between typing rapidly and staring closely at a small black box. "This is Toshiko Sato," Gwen said. "She's the only one who ever does anything useful."

"You do as well," Toshiko replied.

Martha smiled. "My name's Martha."

"Anything interesting happening with the Rift, Tosh?" Gwen asked.

"There's been a few energy fluctuations in the last few hours, but I don't think it's anything major. I was just about to tell Jack anyway; we'd better keep an eye on it."

"Come and see a Weevil," Gwen told Martha. "It's an alien. Takes a while to get used to."

"Oh, believe me, I've seen a few aliens!" Martha assured her.

_To be continued…_

**TIME SHIFT**

_What do you think? Like it? Hate it? Think I should take a long walk off a short precipice? Think I should carry on? Makes no odds whether you think I should or not; I'm still writing it, so there -blows raspberry- review please_

_Oh, and updates will probably be few and far between, cuz I'm writing it as I go along, but I'll try and do at LEAST 1 a week. And the best way to make sure you avoid missing it is to add it to your alerts -angel smile-_


	2. The Wife

_Wow, I had a lot of people adding me! Thanks a bunch to: __-Jess-Emrys-BLack-, Indiana-Parker, brencon, dramafreak07, dreamer24-7 (love your name), madrabbit5 (and yours) and sailor steller moon for adding this to their alerts, and to Kathryn Shadow, sailor stellar moon, dreamer24-7 and Endless Twilight for reviewing._

_By the way, this story takes an element from Partners in Crime. Cookies to anyone who guesses what it is._

_**REPRISE:**_

"_Come and see a Weevil,__"__ Gwen told Martha. __"__It__'__s an alien. Takes a while to get used to.__"_

"_Oh, believe me, I__'__ve seen a few aliens!__"__ Martha assured her._

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE WIFE**

Gwen took Martha down some more corridors, all almost identical to the first they had walked down.

"How do you know your way around here?" Martha asked, laughing.

"Practise, mainly!" Gwen replied with a smile. "It's Ianto who knows the place best. He seems to have some sort of internal map, so he always knows where he's going." Martha stared around her, and thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked there was nothing. It didn't stop a shiver from running down her spine, however.

Gwen had stopped outside a heavy door. She opened it, and Martha went in to see a short row of cells with glass fronts. "The Weevil's in the end," Gwen told her. Martha walked down to the end of the row, and slowly, a humanoid figure was revealed, crouching in the shadows. Its mouth was a mass of teeth, and it snarled quietly at her as she looked at it.

"Where did you find it?" Martha asked.

"We've had this one for a long time. It was here when I got here. There's hundreds of them, though; they live in the sewers. Mostly they don't cause any problems, but sometimes they'll find their way out and start terrorising people." Martha stared at the Weevil.

"There are aliens living underneath Cardiff?" She gave a laugh. "How did they get there in the first place?"

"Well, there's this…thing: it's called the Rift - at least, we call it the Rift - and it goes right through the centre of Cardiff, and…You're not even going to believe me."

"I will, honestly. Tell me."

"Well," she began, and spoke slowly as though she was trying to find the words: "It connects Cardiff to other places…other times. That's what our job is, to keep people safe from whatever comes through. And sometimes, to keep those that come through safe."

"Wow…What a job!"

"It's an amazing job," Gwen agreed. "But pretty hard to switch off from. We can be called in at any time. Even 20 past three in the morning," she added, as though this had happened to her recently.

"So, do you have a boyfriend, or…?" Martha asked, as they made their way back to the main room.

"Yes. His name's Rhys. We've been together for a long time. What about you?"

"No. Well…no." They didn't speak again until they got back to the main room. Jack was waiting close by the door, with The Doctor next to him.

"We've had a call," Jack said to Gwen. "Apparently, an old man saw his wife and chased after her, but she disappeared. Except she's been dead for eight years. Normally, he'd be treated as senile or delusional, but there are at least 15 eyewitnesses who swear that she was there, so we got called in. Doctor, Martha," he continued, glancing at them both in turn, "want to come along?"

* * *

Bertie Jones had loved his wife. They'd been one of those few lucky couples who found each other early - they'd been just 19 when they married - and had stayed together into their old age. She had liked line dancing; he liked painting and cars - and painting cars. She had had a part-time job as a receptionist and he was a mechanic, and so they'd been able to keep individual lives, despite the amount of time they spent together.

And they spent a lot of time together. More at the end, because she had retired - though he still refused to - at the age of 60.

So when 68-year-old Bertie Jones saw his late wife buying apples at the end of the street, naturally he tried to follow her.

* * *

"So you just got to the stall and she was gone, and the shopkeeper said she literally disappeared?" Jack checked.

"That's right," Bertie told him in his deep but weakening voice.

When they went to see the spot where Bertie's wife had been seen, Jack asked: "Gwen, any suggestions?"

"It could be like that ghost machine we found. Emotions, amplified by something, coming back where they don't belong."

"Another ghost machine?" Jack said.

"Could be."

"Sorry - ghost machine?" The Doctor suddenly cut in. He had been uncharacteristically quiet, in Martha's opinion, since they had arrived, perhaps wanting to see how Jack and his team worked.

"Yeah, long story," Jack said. "We can go back to that café some time; I'll tell you about it."

"That was a rubbish cup of tea, wasn't it?" The Doctor put in, displaying his usual infinite capacity for rambling about nonsense. "Like dishwater. And I think the milk was off. Have you ever tried the tea on Caulton 3? Awful. Don't know what they do with it. Then again, the only way of boiling water they have is from hot springs, and they're slightly acidic so that could be it."

"You don't half have a big gob," Owen told him bluntly.

"That's me!" The Doctor agreed cheerfully. "I may not be able to do anything else, but I could talk for Britain. Well, I couldn't seeing as I'm not an actual citizen, but…" He suddenly realised that all five of them were glaring at him, and decided to shut up. "Carry on," he said. "You were talking about a ghost machine."

"Toshiko, check on Rift activity between 10 past and 20 past 4. It could be to do with that," Jack told her. She pulled a hand-held computer out of her pocket and used a small stylus to tap a few times onto it.

"There was a small energy spike at 12 minutes past and a slightly larger one at 17 minutes past, but neither of them were abnormally large."

"That new?" Jack asked, tilting the screen towards him.

"Yes, I built it to monitor the Rift mainly, because it can pick up fluctuations in electrical and Rift energy. It's also integrated to the main Torchwood system so I can look at and control all the screens from here." This seemed to pique The Doctor's curiosity, because he immediately took the device and examined it, whipping his glasses out of his pocket and staring at it.

"Oh…Toshiko Sato, I like you," he said. "This is like…_clever._" Toshiko looked pleased, and hid a smile, taking the device back.

"Okay, I can imagine the conversation these two would have, so lets get back before they can start talking."

"There are three tracking devices in the base," Toshiko told The Doctor as they followed the others, and demonstrated by clicking a small, black, plastic square out of the base. "And they're all wired up so I can track them straight away."

A young boy watched them walk away as their voices faded...

**TIME SHIFT**

_Heehee the plot thickens :P not much, but still. Heehee. As I said, cookies to whoever guesses where the Partners In Crime reference is :P_


	3. The Girl

_I'M SORRY!! REALLY!! I've not had any time to write!! Please don't kill me!!_

_Rest assured, that the next chapter will DEFINITELY come soon, because I've very nearly finished it!_

_**REPRISE:**_

_A young boy watched them walk away as their voices faded..._

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE GIRL**

As they walked in, Owen grabbed a basketball off the side and chucked it over his head. Gwen caught it and immediately threw it to Jack. He threw it to Tosh, who had been talking to The Doctor and missed it because she had not been paying attention. They both ignored it and continued speaking avidly, so Martha picked it up and joined in. After a few minutes, Owen scored in a net high on one of the walls. He whooped, and they continued.

"So how did you get here?" The Doctor asked Tosh.

"I made something that didn't work," Tosh replied.

"You…made something that didn't work?" The Doctor repeated.

"No, what I mean is," Tosh began with a laugh, "I made something from plans that were wrong, except I made it work." The Doctor nodded approvingly, then his head jerked up to look at one of Tosh's screens. Tosh followed his eyes as he narrowed them.

"He one of yours?" he asked.

"I didn't see anything," Tosh replied honestly. "I'll look…" She ran the tape backwards a few seconds.

"There," The Doctor said, as she froze the tape. There was a blurry figure; a man, with short dark hair. He seemed to be frozen in the act of turning as he walked, as though he was looking around him.

"But there's nobody moving," Tosh said, running another scan.

"No body heat. He's not there. Whoever he was, he disappeared as quickly as he appeared. Jack!" she called. "There's something weird going on."

"Isn't there always?" he replied, coming over. His face became more serious as Tosh explained what had just happened.

"Have there been any more? Were there any when we were out?"

Tosh did a few quick scans then turned back to Jack. "One," she replied. "But there's no camera where it was, just a freak heat signature. Body temperature. No more than a few seconds. I'd say it was a glitch, if not for this."

"Alright, keep an eye on things. We'll go down and see if we can catch one of these people."

"Wait a second," The Doctor said. He took the keyboard off Tosh. Tosh and Jack watched him. "AHA!" he cried loudly. "Rift spike, just a small one, at exactly the moment of that heat signature, and when we saw that man!"

"Is it the same as when that man saw his wife?" Tosh asked.

A pause, as he checked, and then, "Exactly the same." He looked up at her, and Tosh knew he was thinking exactly the same as her.

"Parallel universe," they said together.

Jack promptly caught up with what they were thinking.

"So that man's wife didn't come back from the past, she came from a parallel universe."

"Well, it can't be another universe entirely, because she _looked_ like his wife," The Doctor said.

"And it can't be a time thing none of the people we saw in here have ever been here," Jack put in. "There goes my dinner plans."

"You had dinner plans?" Tosh asked.

"No, but if I did have them, they'd be gone. Doctor, what do you think?"

The Doctor ignored him for a moment, staring into space, then suddenly looked up and inhaled quickly. "I think we go and have a chat with one of them. They'd better not be using the…" He mimed hitting his chest a few times, as though waiting for them to provide the words. "Anyway, the most amount of people have been coming out here, so it must be to do with the Rift. We can search the corridors down here. Tosh can keep a watch up here and if she finds anything she can tell us."

"Then we go talk to them?" Jack said.

"Then we go talk to them," The Doctor agreed with a grin. "What I do best! We need to know who these people are and if it's deliberate or not."

* * *

"There's someone!" Martha heard Tosh exclaim over her earpiece. She'd been teamed up with Owen to try and catch one of the people. She'd wanted to go with The Doctor, but he had gone with Gwen, whilst Jack had gone with Ianto.

"And, it's gone again…" Tosh finished. "That was just a visual. I only saw it because I happened to be looking at the screen. There was no heat signature or anything."

Gwen was starting to feel a little uncomfortable at the highly disapproving glances that The Doctor was throwing her way.

"Do you have a problem?" she asked finally.

"I've never liked guns," he replied distastefully, wrinkling his nose.

"I'm not going to shoot _you_ with it," she pointed out, as they turned a corner.

The Doctor fixed her with a piercing look. "That's not the point," he told her. "They're only people, aren't they? What are they going to do to you?"

Gwen shrugged, but put the safety catch on her gun and stuck it in her gun anyway.

"Thank you," The Doctor said sincerely.

* * *

"So how long have you been here?" Martha asked Owen after a while.

"A few years. Don't think I could ever leave - it sorta gets inside your head. Though, I'd probably get retconned in the very next drink I had, so it wouldn't make much difference anyway.

"What's…rectconned?" Martha questioned.

"It's this tablet Jack made up. Makes you forget stuff."

"How did you join though? I'm guessing it wasn't an advert in the local paper!"

Owen gave a short laugh and replied; "No, it was my girlfriend."

He would say no more.

A minute later, out of the corner of her eye, Martha saw something again. It was a figure, just down one of the side corridors. She stopped and stared. ((OneRepublic would have been proud of her.))

It was a blond girl. About 20 years old.

As the girl faded again, Owen turned.

"What are you staring at?" he asked.

"Nothing," she lied, catching up with him.

**TIME SHIFT**

_Please review!!_

_((sorry again for the delay…))_

_PS - Chapter four will break your heart_


	4. The Photo

_**REPRISE: **_

It was a blond girl. About 20 years old.

As the girl faded again, Owen turned.

"What are you staring at?" he asked.

"Nothing," she lied, catching up with him.

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE PHOTO**

"An _hour," _Owen said, flopping down into a chair. "We have been in those cold, dark corridors for a bloody _hour. _And we didn't even catch up with a single one."

"Well, there were only three of them," Tosh pointed out. Owen just glared at her, and she looked away.

"They are at least getting more frequent. And longer," Jack said, pacing. They had been in the tunnels an hour - as, no doubt, you deduced - and Tosh had only detected three visitors. Each time, she had told them where it was and they all raced to get there on time. One had lasted for almost five minutes, and Jack and Ianto had been just turning the corner as it disappeared. They were now in the briefing room ((A/N: what's it called again?)), having a rest and trying to decide what to do next.

"I think," The Doctor said, "we should go and have a drink. If we wait a while they'll probably begin to last long enough for us to be able to catch up and talk to one of them."

"And where was this fantastic idea earlier, Sherlock?" Owen asked.

"Well…I'm sure I said something…to Martha…" The Doctor replied, pulling his ear nervously.

"You said _nothing_ to me," Martha said, denying all blame.

"Let's go get that drink before The Doctor gets murdered," Jack suggested as the others glared at The Doctor, and picked up his coat.

"Now we know where he gets it from," Gwen muttered as they walked on their way to a café. "He must've copied The Doctor's long coat."

"It's starting to rain," Owen complained, shrugging his hood on. Gwen ducked under the umbrella which Tosh pulled out of her black handbag. Martha had no hood, nor had she had the foresight to bring an umbrella, so she pulled her coat up over her head, silently cursing The Doctor for coming up with the idea. Jack and The Doctor seemed typically immune to the rain.

They arrived at the café shortly, and as Gwen, Owen, Ianto and Tosh were walking a short way behind Martha, Jack and The Doctor, they didn't here the exchange between them and the waiter.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Owen exclaimed. The Doctor had led them onto the roof seats. They were already wet from the rain, and not getting any drier.

"Bit of rain never hurt anyone," The Doctor declared, grinning upwards as the rain soaked his face in seconds. "Besides, there are no other seats left." He meandered cheerfully over to the edge and leaned on the railing. Gwen made a face at Owen, but sat down. It was not…_too _wet…

"If I catch pneumonia it's your fault," Owen told him, sitting down too. "I'll sue you or something." Tosh went over to stand with The Doctor as Jack, Ianto and Martha sat down with the other two.

The Doctor saw Tosh come to stand next to him, but said nothing for a long time. Tosh did not break the silence either.

Eventually, he said, "You can do better than him, you know."

Tosh was confused. "What?"

"Owen. I can see it." He was still staring out at the rain-soaked city. "You could do better."

"Maybe I don't want to," she replied.

The Doctor glanced at her with an amused half-smile. "Good answer," he told her.

"What about you? Are you and Martha…?"

"No. I think she wants us to be, but…no." He paused. "There _was_ someone else. She's gone now."

"Who was she?"

"Everything," he replied heavily. "And now she's gone. And I have nothing but a picture and a head full of memories." Finally, he met her eyes.

"Is that rain or tears?" Tosh asked gently.

The Doctor gave a sad smile. "Both," he admitted, for the first time.

"What was she like?"

"Rose was…amazing. And beautiful. And brave, and funny, and clever. And a very fast runner!" he finished with a smile.

"You said you had a picture…?" Tosh asked.

The Doctor dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a creased picture. He smiled at it sadly and showed Tosh. "My Rose," he said.

Tosh looked at the photo and saw that it was of a young woman, of around 20, who was grinning out of the picture. She just looked like an ordinary person, but she obviously had the ability to turn The Doctor's brain - which, from what she had seen, was pretty amazing - into mush. Nobody could fail to see the love in her smile, and Tosh realised that The Doctor must have taken the picture. The Doctor wiped a few drops of rain off the picture, which had already begun to smudge in one corner, and accidentally brushed it out of his hand. He grabbed at it desperately, but missed. Tosh also tried to catch it, but she missed it too, and as a gust of wind blew the picture off the side of the building, The Doctor leant as far over the railings as he could manage, his arms hanging uselessly over the edge.

"ROSE!" he yelled after the picture as he watched it floating gently downwards. The one word pulled on Tosh's heart, and she felt like weeping for him.

For a moment, The Doctor's world screeched to a halt. All he could think was, _I've lost her again, I've lost her again, I've lost her again, I've lost her again. _It repeated itself like a mantra inside his head, until both his hearts were broken beyond repair.

"Rose…" he whispered, too quiet for anybody to hear. He vaguely registered that Jack had come over, closely followed by the others.

"What's happened?" Ianto asked.

The Doctor straightened up and turned to face them.

"I just lost my only picture of Rose," he replied. His voice was calm, but his eyes betrayed his true heartbreak.

Martha bit her lip as she saw his torment.

"Doctor…" she began nervously. "I have something to tell you…I think I saw Rose in the tunnels."

The Doctor just stared at her.

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE PHOTO**

_I said it'd break your heart…did it? Please review and tell me! X Withdraws to hug chibi!Doctor X ((chibi!s copyright to Savannah.))_


	5. The Window

_**REPRISE: **__"I think I saw Rose in the tunnels," Martha said._

_The Doctor just stared at her._

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE WINDOW**

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, in a dangerously emotionless voice.

"I…I wasn't sure if it was…"

"But maybe if she did see her, Rose might be able to come back," Jack said. He was trying hard not to hope too much, but it was difficult because he had loved Rose like a sister, and missed her dearly. There was still a very small part of him that blamed The Doctor for losing her.

"Travel between parallel worlds is impossible," The Doctor replied. His face was closed, as he desperately tried to shut off the part of his mind which was running through a million theories of how he could get her back. It was impossible. He just stared at them staring at him for a moment, then he burst into action and ran off the roof, through the door and down the stairs. The others all followed him, most totally bemused, and Gwen dropped a tenner on the waiter's desk as they raced past.

"He's madder than Jack," Gwen said to Owen as they followed The Doctor through the rain back to the Hub. As they reached the lift, they were just in time to see The Doctor and Jack descend out of sight.

All 5 of the others continued - a little slower, and breathing heavily - to the tourist information centre entrance.

"Don't drip on the leaflets," Ianto told them as they all traipsed through.

"This is so bloody stupid," Owen said. "We've only just met the man and we're following him around like a load of bloody sheep. We don't even know what the hell's going on."

"Well, we can ask him when we get inside," Gwen replied as they hurried down the corridors.

The Doctor bounced impatiently on his heels as he and Jack descended on the lift. His mind was racing at a million miles a second, trying to work out how he could bring Rose back. At the same time he was wondering what on Earth was going on.

He leapt off the lift before it had reached the bottom and raced over to the Rift Manipulator, hitting several buttons in quick succession and causing the machine to beep.

"What if the cybermen come through?" Jack suddenly said.

"Then, we'll get rid of them," The Doctor replied. "Speaking of which, I wish I could use those cones…But it'd be too painful…"

"What on Earth is going on?" Gwen asked, as the five of them arrived and stopped next to Jack. The Doctor kicked the machine in frustration and ignored her question, so Jack answered it.

"The Doctor and I know one of the people who came through. And she doesn't belong there. He's trying to bring her back." He stepped forward. "Might wanna try taking the lock off," he told The Doctor, flicking a switch.

The Doctor paused. "Oh…right," he said, then continued to press the buttons. After a moment, he span around. The others followed his eyes.

There was nothing there. "Ohh, wait, wait, wait…" he said, and twisted a small dial around.

"I need the TARDIS," he muttered. "The Rift Manipulator doesn't have enough power." He raced off again, and this time nobody followed.

"Is he opening the Rift?" Owen asked, immediately after he had gone, as a whooshing, groaning noise started.

"Yep," Jack replied.

"You said don't ever open the Rift," said Gwen.

"Yeah, well, he knows what he's doing," Jack said as The Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS.

He stood in front of them, and met Jack's eyes. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said seriously, as sparks flew from the machine.

Then he grinned.

The Doctor shrugged off one of the thick black wires that had been looped over his shoulder, and used a piece of thin copper wiring to link it to the Rift Manipulator.

"How did you get back so fast?" Jack asked suddenly. "You only just went when the TARDIS came back."

"I've been gone for ten minutes," The Doctor called from inside the TARDIS. His next words were muffled, and Jack recognised this voice from when he had his screwdriver in his mouth. "Time machine, remember? I just came back to a few seconds after I left." He poked his head around the TARDIS door, screwdriver in his hand and buzzing against two wires. "Jack, come and hold this button down," he told him. The two of them disappeared into the TARDIS. "Someone set all those dials to three!" The Doctor yelled from inside, and Gwen hurried to obey. Ianto disappeared off to get some coffee for them all as The Doctor came out again to use some more controls. "Jack, you can come back now," he called. They all watched him.

The Doctor turned and grinned at them. He gave the Rift Manipulator a backwards kick, and pointed. They all turned. The Doctor's hearts began to beat a little faster. What if this went wrong? He banished all thoughts like these, and concentrated on the shadowy image forming on the bottom of the fountain. It was almost the same as what was really behind the fountain, but a little different.

"What is that?" Martha asked quietly.

"It's a window. A window to another world."

"Rose! There's something weird here!" The Welsh voice came from through the window. It was echo-y and strange, and The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on the window.

"It's working…" Jack said, glancing from The Doctor to the window.

"Rose! Come and see!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," came a familiar voice which made The Doctor's hearts stop. He fought to keep his face expressionless. This was a _window,_ not a _door._ The chances of him being able to get her through without destroying at least two worlds were so minute he couldn't think of a single way.

And then Rose appeared through the window, squinting through it.

"Rose!" Jack exclaimed, laughing. "It's you!"

"Well, yeah," Rose replied. "I do work here. What the hell are you doing there? And, like, how?"

The Doctor couldn't move, and cowered like a rabbit in the headlights against the Rift Manipulator. He couldn't quite see Rose now she'd stepped back, and knew she wouldn't be able to see him.

He'd not thought this through. It would be so much harder when she'd gone. He was about to ask Jack to play along, but he answered; "That would be The Doctor."

Martha saw Rose's face close up in pain. "Don't, Jack. Just…don't. Don't play around like this."

"I'm not!" Jack replied indignantly. "I wouldn't!" Martha watched Rose's reaction. Her face went through hope, fear, confusion, love, so many emotions she couldn't even understand. And then it went blank.

"Stop lying Jack," she told him, her voice carefully calm. "The Doctor's gone. I'll never…I'll never see him again."

"Yes you will!" Jack insisted, and, keen to prove that he was not lying, turned to pull The Doctor into her view. Before he could achieve this, The Doctor pressed a button on the Rift Manipulator and the image on the fountain faded.

He couldn't go through with this.

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE WINDOW**

_-sniff- talk to me later -sniff-_


	6. The Mum

_You know I said that this was quite early on in series 3? It's not. It's very late._

_This is quite a long chapter :P_

**_REPRISE: _**The Doctor pressed a button on the Rift Manipulator and the image on the fountain faded.

_He couldn't go through with this._

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE MUM**

"What are you doing?" Jack yelled at The Doctor. "Why did you get rid of her?"

The Doctor suddenly felt like a naughty child, and yet older than he'd ever felt, both at the same time.

"I couldn't…" he began, and swallowed. He looked down at the floor.

"Then let me talk to her. I'll just say you're not here."

"What if she wants you to do it again when I come to Earth again?"

"I'll tell her I can't. Doctor, I miss her. I want to talk to her."

"Fine," The Doctor agreed at last. "But let's get these out," he added, gesturing to Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Martha. "Might be a little weird for them if they have copies…Might be weird for them on the other side, too." He didn't reveal how much the words "the other side" hurt.

"Alright," Jack said.

"Alright. I'll move the TARDIS back a little, to make sure. It's that button," he added, pointing, before turning and retreating into the TARDIS.

Jack waited until the engine noise had faded away and his team and Martha were out of sight before pressing the button to activate the window.

As he watched, the image of not-quite Torchwood appeared on the fountain. If he squinted, it was as though the fountain had simply become transparent, yet he knew that this wasn't the case. As he approached the window, parallel Tosh came into view, writing something on her computer.

"Rose, it's happening again," she called. She hadn't looked around and Jack realised that she was monitoring the Rift.

A movement caught Jack's eye, and he saw that Rose had been talking to parallel Owen; she now walked quickly to the window. Jack saw how this Torchwood was set out differently; the desks were obviously in very different places, and it seemed lighter too.

"Hello, Rose," he said as calmly as he could. He still couldn't stop the enormous grin spreading across his face.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing? Why are you here? Why are you in Torchwood?" She took a step closer. "It looks weird though." She looked around the side of the fountain. "And you're not behind there…Ohhhhh…"

"Yeah, I think you got it," Jack told her.

"Parallel universe?" she asked.

"Exactly," Jack replied. "So, what have you been doing with yourself?"

"Well…Torchwood, as you can see. There isn't another you here, you know. You're a one-off!"

Jack gave a short laugh. "I've missed you," he said.

"I missed you too! Ohh, I wanna hug you!"

"Doesn't everybody?" he asked.

Rose just looked at him. "You never change, do you?"

"I'm too good to change," he replied, grinning.

Rose laughed. "If I could touch you, I would hit you," she said. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, a fair bit. I met up with The Doctor again." He could see Rose struggling to control her emotions.

"How is he? Where is he now?"

"He's fine. I should tell you, he's travelling with someone else." There was a short pause.

"Good. He shouldn't be alone. But where is he? Is he there?"

"I'm here," came The Doctor's quiet voice. Jack span around, confused and surprised, and Rose leaned over to try and see him. Jack turned back to the window.

"I'll be back," he promised, and left.

Slowly, The Doctor walked forwards, and stopped a mere foot away from the window. The two just stared at each other for a long moment. The Doctor was regretting coming forwards already, because he couldn't imagine saying goodbye again.

It would break his other heart.

"Hello," he said.

"'Lo," Rose replied. There was another long pause as both struggled for something to say. "Missed you," Rose said at last, as though the words might cover all the tears she had cried in the dead of night. The first few months had been the hardest; she had cried herself to sleep most nights and thrown herself into her work at Torchwood. It had got easier, gradually. She had moved on, but not forgotten.

"Missed you too," The Doctor replied. "Oh…so much." He put one hand out, wanting to hold hers, but it met the cold metal of the waterfall. He saw Rose do the same, and, if he imagined, he could pretend he was touching her warm skin, and could not feel water running over his hand.

They were separated by just a few inches now, and yet at the same time it was a whole world.

"I know," she replied. And her smile broke The Doctor's heart again.

Yet another silence. The Doctor couldn't believe that, after all this time, he could think of nothing to say.

"Where's your famous gob gone?" Rose asked with a laugh, as though she read his thoughts. He just laughed and continued to gaze at her. Finally, he withdrew his hand from the waterfall.

"Is there no way you can bring me through?" Rose asked, reminding The Doctor that he should ask about her team's appearance in Jack's Torchwood.

"I'm sorry," he said, in answer to her question. "I have to ask, though - have you been trying to get through? People keep showing up on Jack's computers."

"I _knew _there was something going one!" Rose exclaimed. "Only me and Luke have been feeling it, though. As though everything looks a little darker and feels a little different, just for a few seconds."

The Doctor had his _"now that's intriguing, I'm going to think very hard about it"_ face on. "There's no Luke here…Where did he come from?"

"He dropped through the Rift as well." She didn't tell him how much this had hurt, knowing he had dropped through and hoping that one day she would. "He used to be a fireman on…your side. But then he dropped through, we caught up with him and he stayed on. I'm convinced he had some sort of alien equipment, but he's never admi-what?" She had changed track abruptly, because she realised that The Doctor's expression had changed from _"intrigued" _to _"I've just thought of something very exciting!"_

"No…" he said, disbelievingly.

"What?" she asked impatiently. At that exact moment, her mobile rang. She groaned. "Wait there," she told The Doctor, noting that his expression had changed to the one usually accompanied by the words "maybe…no…YES…but…". This time, however, he simply stared at her. He would more than likely burst into activity and solve everything in a minute (though she wasn't quite sure what he was solving at that moment), so she answered her phone quickly.

"Hello?"

"Rose, it's your mother."

"What's up?" she asked, cursing her mum's timing. She would have explained what was happening, but decided that it should wait until he was gone and she could speak to her mum directly.

"There's something weird happening down here," her mum told her, as though it was Rose's fault alone. "I keep seeing fields instead of the street." Jackie and Pete had lived apart for a while, but after a few months had moved into a small house in a quiet town close to London. Rose always pretended that she was renting a flat in Cardiff, though she actually stayed at Torchwood. Her excuse was that she would be on hand if something went wrong, but the real reason was that she felt that if she moved into a house with _doors _and _carpets _it would completely alienate (no pun intended!) her from The Doctor. When her parents came up for a rare visit, she pretended that she lived with Luke.

"I think you're seeing things, mum," Rose told her with a smile.

"I'm not!" Jackie replied indignantly.

"What does she see?" The Doctor asked, his eyes wide. He'd got to the optional _"need more facts, and quickly!" _stage now. Rose answered his question, putting her mum on speakerphone so she could hear what was going on. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Rose.

"Where does your mum live?" Rose told him this, too.

"I'm not seeing things!" Jackie replied defensively.

"She's not seeing things," The Doctor confirmed gravely.

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE MUM**

_:D Wanna see what's going on? Watch this space!! Cuz I'm the only one who can tell you!_


	7. The Rift

_Thanks to -Emalilyy-Aand-Lucyy-, -Jess-Emrys-BLack-, Azure-x-Rose, BlackAithne, EndlessTwilight, Indiana-Parker, Marinus-pseudo Hyrum, Noir86, Spamurai, The Tenth Doctor's Companion, Trinix216, brencon, devstar, dinderoti, dramafreak07, dreamer24-7, madrabbit5, Nathanrdotca, sailor steller moon and sbloise (ooooh that's a nice long list!) for adding this to their alerts. Thanks even more to Char, Kathryn Shadow, James, Outlaw of Sherwood (yay Robin Hood), kara, Angel of Apathy, EndlessTwilight, The Tenth Doctor's Companion, DoctorWhoIsVeryVeryCool, Lucy, GazWrites, Indiana Parker, sailor stellar moon and dreamer24-7 for reviewing : )_

* * *

_**REPRISE:** "I'm not seeing things!" Jackie replied defensively._

_"She's not seeing things," The Doctor confirmed gravely._

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE RIFT**

"She's not seeing things?" Rose asked.

"She's _NOT_ seeing things!" The Doctor cried.

"You two sound like a coupl'a bleedin' parrots," Jackie said down the phone. "Is that The Doctor? How? Why? What's going on?"

"Let me just check," The Doctor said, his voice carefully calm. "You, and your mum, and Luke, yes?"

"Yeess…" Rose replied.

"And you've all been through the Rift."

"Yeess…But so have other -"

"And you all belong on _this side?_" Rose gaped at him.

"Are you going somewhere with this?" Jackie asked.

"Of course I am! Jackie, you've been seeing trees, yes?"

"Yes."

"Trees which shouldn't be there?" His eyes were staring intensely into Rose's.

"Oh, get on with it, you stupid man," Jackie said.

"Fine! Fine! You all belong over here. So the Rift itself is _pulling you through!_ It's trying to take you home!"

"But why didn't it do it before?" Rose cried.

"The Rift is cleverer than it looks. It recognised the TARDIS. It knows that the TARDIS opened it before, knows how much power it has!"

"But won't it, like, rip a hole in the universe?"

"I have no idea!" The Doctor replied, as though he didn't really care less. "Jack!" He turned away from the fountain. A few seconds later, Jack came in. "If the Rift was opened," The Doctor began rapidly, "what would happen?"

"Several universes would collapse, several others would be smashed together, and the rest would be warped terribly. Billions and billions of people would die."

The Doctor's face fell. "Oh." That couldn't be true? He had to get Rose back! There had to be a way…The Rift wanted it…

"Mum, I'm gonna go," Rose said, putting the phone down on her mum's protests.

"What about if the TARDIS helped?" The Doctor continued.

"Doctor, you know it wouldn't work."

"But the Rift _wants _it! It _wants_ to set things right! Those people on the scans were Rose and Luke, and it's been happening to Rose's mum, too, and probably other people who were taken through the Rift. If we give it just enough power -"

"It won't be able to open fully, but it'll have enough power to drag the people through that belong here!" Jack finished excitedly.

"What about the people who want to stay here?" Rose asked quietly. "The people who've made friends. Made a whole life for themselves. I'd say most people have."

The Doctor's world came crashing around his ears again. He looked back through the window. "Rose…Do you want to stay there?"

"I didn't mean me!!" Rose said quickly, and The Doctor grinned.

"So…you want to…still…with me?"

"Definitely!"

"Good. Because you're coming back, Rose Tyler." The words were like honey on his tongue. "Give us an hour. Pack your things. Say goodbye to your friends. Ask Luke and your mum if they want to come back or not. Choose someone to take over Torchwood. You have a lot to do!"

Rose grinned. She turned and ran over to Tosh, who was still at her computer, though too far away to hear.

"Are we gonna use the tribo-physical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?" Jack asked earnestly.

"Of course we are!" The Doctor declared as he sauntered, head high, grinning madly, into the TARDIS. It sounded as though he'd actually thought of using the tribo-physical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator himself, he thought, as he ran into one of the TARDIS's rooms to get it.

When he came back into the control room, The Doctor saw that Jack was using at the console.

"We need more cables," The Doctor told him. "Have you got any?"

"I'll go look," Jack replied, running out of the TARIDS. As soon as he'd gone, The Doctor pressed a series of controls on the TARDIS and the central column began to move, as the sound of ancient engines washed over him. The Doctor closed his eyes for a second, letting the sound fill his ears, his mind, his whole being. As the sound died away, he opened his eyes again. A moment later, Jack came back, his arms overflowing with thick black cables.

"Why we have all these I will never know," Jack told The Doctor, dumping them on the floor of the TARDIS. "We've never used them before."

"Well, just be glad you have them now," The Doctor replied, grabbing a cable and lying on his back to attach it underneath the console.

"I'll connect the tribo-physical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator," Jack told him, picking it up and flipping it over. "This brings back memories," Jack said, laughing. You remember, that Slitheen? Margaret. You went out on a _date _with her."

"It wasn't a date!"

"It was so a date!" They both stopped talking to concentrate for a minute. "Doctor…" Jack said after a while.

"Yes…" The Doctor replied, his voice muffled over his sonic screwdriver and distant because he was under the floor.

"Do you still feel the same about Rose?" A pause. A buzz from the sonic screwdriver.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, come on, I'm not stupid. It's obvious. Well, was. You were head-over-heels."

"I'm making no comment about before, but my feelings haven't changed."

"It's bigger on the inside!" came Gwen's voice from the door, causing The Doctor to appear from under the floor and frown at the door.

"What are you talking about?" asked Owen, pushing past her to come inside. There was a pause. "Well, that's not something you see every day."

"Yeah, I probably should have told you that bit before," Martha said, laughing, walking past them both to stand in front of The Doctor.

"What are you all doing in here?" The Doctor asked, as though personally offended. Owen answered.

"We all want to go out, so we're here to ask Jack if he's coming. Martha said you'd probably be in here."

"Yeah, we're kinda busy, you lot can go though," Jack told them. The Doctor ducked back underneath the floor as they turned to leave. He didn't realise that Martha hadn't until she spoke a few seconds later.

"Doctor, are you going to tell me what's going on?" His head appeared again, like a meercat popping up.

"We're getting Rose back," he announced, with a manic grin, before disappearing again.

Jack watched Martha's reaction. _I've seen that look before,_ he thought.

"You too, huh?" he asked quietly.

Martha nodded and smiled sadly. She wouldn't dream of saying anything now, and though she knew that The Doctor hadn't liked her in the same way that she liked him, she had hoped that, with time, he would be able to get over Rose and maybe she'd have a chance. She'd once told him she wasn't interested. What a lie that had been.

"I think I'll stay," Martha said. She wanted to meet the girl that The Doctor loved so much. Maybe it would hurt, but, if nothing else, she was curious.

"If you like," The Doctor said vaguely.

"If you're gonna stay, you can make yourself useful," Jack told her. "Pass me that wire" - he pointed with his foot - "coming out of the console." When Martha came close to him, Jack asked under his breath; "How long?"

"Since I first met him."

"Long time?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Sorry, but…you've got no chance."

Martha gazed at the floor under which The Doctor was hidden from view.

"I know," she replied.

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE RIFT**


	8. The Last Chapter

_Don't think I gave too much information away in the chapter title, do you?_

_Anyhoo, read on!_

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE LAST CHAPTER ( ;) )**

"Martha, go and keep an eye on the window, see if Rose turns up again. If she does, tell her we're coming. Just talk to her for a bit." Martha walked out of the TARDIS, and over to the fountain. Feeling like an idiot just stood there, she pulled a chair over close to the fountain and sat down. After a very long 30 minutes, she saw movement and Rose walked up to the window.

"Hi," Martha said, standing up. "The Doctor says they're coming."

"Oh, okay. So, are you travelling with him now?" Rose asked.

"Yep. I'm Martha Jones."

"I'm Rose," said Rose with a smile. "How long have you been travelling with The Doctor?"

"I'm not really sure. It's hard to keep track in there."

"Oh, I know, I always used to think that! And because he never needs to sleep, he always forgot to let me! We'd be up for like 20 hours straight, and I'd say, "Can we just go back and pretend it's night for a bit?" and he'd look at me like it was so weird!"

"He has done that to me LOADS of times!" Martha agreed, laughing. She saw Rose bite her lip.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked Martha.

"If you want."

"He had this friend called Sarah Jane once, she used to travel with him, and they used to be really close but he never mentioned her _once_ to me. I'm…I'm scared he's kinda forgotten me. So…does he ever mention me?"

Martha ignored the jealous part of her that was urging her to _say no, say no, _and said; "Yes. A lot, actually." She forced a smile. She hated having this conversation. "He's not forgotten you." She saw Rose looked shocked and hopeful at the same time. "I thought you two were together?"

"Well, not really. I mean, I…I liked him. Well, more than that. But I always thought…I dunno, I always thought we'd have more time. I never really told him, not until…" She closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand. Martha saw that it was trembling slightly. "Not until…we said goodbye. Isn't it stupid, it's been so long but I still can't think about that day without almost crying. I can think about him, think about what we did and where we went, and that's fine, but thinking about that day on the beach…" Her voice broke. She squeezed her eyes closed for a second, before taking a deep breath and smiling at her. "But now he thinks he can bring me back. And I can't wait."

Martha heard something behind her and turned.

"Is Rose back?" The Doctor's voice came to her as he turned to do something with the Rift Manipulator.

"Yep. She's here."

"Tell her ten minutes, tops. Are her mum and Luke coming?"

"Did you hear that?" Martha asked, turning back to the window.

"Yeah. I'm ready, but my mum…My mum wants to stay here. She's made a whole new life for herself. She's got a husband and friends, and she's got a job. She doesn't need one cuz my dad's rich, but still. Luke's staying here, too. He's gonna take over Torchwood."

"She's ready, but the others aren't coming," Martha called to The Doctor.

The Doctor said something that sounded like, "Maybe I won't get slapped then." Martha didn't understand this, but Rose obviously did because she laughed.

"Tell him he's safe from my mum. She's forgiven him."

Martha repeated this and The Doctor laughed. She felt awkward as a go-between, so went back to the TARDIS to see if she could help Jack. No sooner had she walked in than Jack called out to The Doctor: "I'm ready, what about you?" and walked out the door again. Martha followed him, feeling distinctly like a sheep, and saw The Doctor finish with his tinkering.

"Oh, I'm ready," The Doctor replied with a grin. "Rose, keep absolutely still." The Doctor's fingers whizzed over the controls and made the window appeared to roll up at the top and bottom like wallpaper left on the table, and disappear. "Jack, press that one," he told him. Jack did so and a moment later there was a sound like ripping fabric accompanied by a bright flash of white light. _Did I do it?_ The Doctor asked himself desperately, and ran behind the fountain to see. He leapt over the railings in his haste, finally saw her, and stopped dead.

"Rose Tyler," he said slowly, watching her mouth turn up in a delighted smile. She dropped a big rucksack and ran towards him. She threw herself into his arms and The Doctor held her at last.

"I'm never going to let you go again," The Doctor said, laughing and yet mostly serious.

"Good," Rose replied softly. Her breath tickled his neck. Eventually, however, The Doctor did let go, and took her hand. He felt whole again.

"I believe I have something I was going to tell you. It started with "Rose Tyler". And the last few words" - he stared intently into her eyes - "were "I love you"."

"As much as the TARDIS?" Rose teased.

"What, as much as the TARDIS loves you or as much as I love the TARDIS?"

"As much as you love the TARDIS!" she said, laughing.

"I love you much more than that," he replied grinning.

"I wouldn't let her hear you saying that! She'll get jealous and not listen to you. Not that it would make much difference, as bad as you are at driving her!"

"Rose Tyler, I'm hurt," The Doctor said, making some very effective hurt-puppy eyes at her. "I tell you I love you and you just tease me." Rose pulled him down towards her and kissed him quickly but lovingly on the lips.

"You already know I love you," she said, delighting in the astonished look on his face.

And then he pulled her into his warm embrace, and she knew that she had truly come home.

**TIME SHIFT**

**THE LAST CHAPTER**

_Aww :P I'm getting warm fuzzies :D_

_Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through all 8 chapters._

_If you added me to your alerts or reviewed, thanks extra (BTW please review this chapter too teehee)._

_There may be an epilogue, if enough people ask and I can be bothered to write it. (Hint hint, that means review and ask me to write it. I know, I have no shame.)_

_So, TTFN._


End file.
